You can’t charge the iPhone 3G on iPod Audio Systems

like I said before and again. Apple is a money sucking machine. My Audi a5 factory sys does not work anymore either. Very dissapointed.

Has anyopne figured out the reason for the message:

That it is ONLY supplying firewire power
That is is supplying firewire power AT ALL (i.e. is supplyng both)
That it is NOT supplying USB power

i.e. is it a matter of cutting the firewire wires.

I know each system is different, but it would be good to know this for those brave enough to hack it up.

When I got my iPhone 3G, because of the server issues I had to take it home and activate it. It was a while after getting home that I was able to activate, so I thought I would give it a charge in the meantime.

Having heard that some audio docks were not compatible, I popped it into my "iWantit" system (recently bought and really good sound)... I heard the little charging chirp and it charged perfectly. Happy days...

Since activating the phone and doing the restore and setup, I can no longer charge my phone in this dock, because I now get the little orange triangle.

Makes me think this is a software restriction, not a hardware one... *** Apple???

Ok I can deal with the lack of charging on my car system - but I don't get any audio either!! Tried flight and normal mode. I know the adaptor works with a normal iPod. Anyone else had this? This is my first iPhone and I only just got it so if I'm missing something obvious, please tell me.

"Since activating the phone and doing the restore and setup, I can no longer charge my phone in this dock, because I now get the little orange triangle"

Good find Funny Fingers! Apple will probably provide a fix for this then since it is software related and not hardware.

Ok, here's the deal..

..The Charging System...

Most chargers on the market today are designed to charge via USB or via 12v through the firewire portion of apple dock pins (pins 19,20 12V DC and pins 29,30 Ground). This was an easy choice for the manufacturers because your car is already a 12V based system that kept the charging solutions inexpensive to make. If they already had 12V available, why step it down to 5V to charge via the USB pins? Makes sense right? As you know, Apple has eliminated 12V charging from their newer units but has left a sensing circuit on the firewire pins just to tell you that your old device doesnt work anymore. Your existing chargers will not harm the Iphone, but they are certainly useless.

The new way to charge is through the USB pins on the Apple dock connector ( pin 16 USB GND, pin 23 USB Power 5 VDC, pin 25 USB Data negative, pin 27 USB Data positive ). BUT, you cannot just apply 5V to pin 23 and ground to pin 16. The Iphone is also sensing voltage on USB Data positive (approx 1.8v) and USB Data negative (approx 2.5V).

...The Audio System...

If you had an older gen Ipod like an Ipod Video then the audio outputs were real easy, it always put line out audio through the audio pins in the dock connector. The Iphone is a different animal. The audio and serial pins are still the same on the dock connector, BUUT, there is an accessroy pin (pin 21) that senses the type of accessory that is plugged in. If the correct resistance is NOT on pin 21 then the Iphone completely ignores the connection and does not redirect the audio to the dock. Thus most of your old Ipod Interfaces are now obsolete..

I personally have an IPAC-OEM interface (pac-audio.com) to my Buick Regal that worked great with my Ipod Video (charge, audio, steering wheel controls). When I plug in my Iphone 3G, it gives me the aircraft warning (I hit no) then audio Video works fine. It wont charge, but again, audio, video and steering wheel controls work as they should. I sent them an email this morning asking when they will have an Iphone solution. They may already have it, but havent updated their site.

I also have a ic-ALPA interface from PAC that connects to my Alpine stereo in my other car via the Alpine AI-net. It will do charge and audio on my Ipod Video, on my 3G it does nothing. Ofcourse as we've seen above, it's a 12V charger which does nothing on the 3G and it lacks the proper indicator on pin 21 to tell the 3G what to do.

There's a lot of manufacturers that are going to have to play catchup for a while. Wonder how long that will take?

So, I think that settles it for the most part, I hope this helps.

TheEther...

Message was edited by: TheEther

Message was edited by: TheEther

I am experiencing this same problem. All audio systems throughout my home work with my ipod and initial iphone. 3g model is not charging.

The main issue for me is my recent purchase of my Mini Cooper. This vehicle has a great optional feature that I paid, where I can access my playlists from the car's controls. My initial iphone was charging with this configuration and I had tested the iphone on the vehicle prior to purchasing as I know it was advertised as a 'ipod adapter'. I found no warnings about the 3g model being incompatible with charging with previous accessories. Now my car allows me to access songs, but this drains the battery on my iphone 3g without the ability to charging simultaneously. If anyone hears of any adapters that come out, please post it here, please!

Works perfectly with the ipod hi-fi

As the person above noted, before my phone was actually activated I was able to charge my iphone 3g through my car's OEM. Once activation occurred the connector works as you described. I contacted the manufacturer of this connector this morning and they said it is a firmware issue that they experienced with the first iPhone and which was solved when apple released an update a few weeks after launch. If Apple does not update it's firmware for the iPhone 3G to meet these specifications then you will definitely see a host of adapters and the like on the market soon, someone will be trying to make a buck off this issue. As it appears to be a software based issue, I don't see how Apple would hold the gun to our heads to update a feaking connector. For most OEM devices I would think that you could simply buy a new line from the fusebox to the iphone instead of having to replace the entire thing.

This was posted by Blitzsafe's forum moderator, they are an OEM manufacturer:

We are expecting Apple to release an update which will resolve the no charging issue that customers of the new iPhone 3G are experiencing with our interface. We will post any updates as we become aware of them.

-----------------
Victor Vasquez
BlitzSafe of America - Technical Support Manager
201-569-5000 800-597-SAFE
Fax: 201-569-5042

I tested this in my 2008 Infiniti G35 using the factory-supplied iPod hookup. It can play music through the stereo with the connector but it will NOT charge. Most disappointing for long road trips...

--HussDelRio

Yep. You're right about that. With a 5-6hr batt life, I need a charger. It would be very nice to have Pandora on my car stereo however. 😉

On the Gadget/Apple Blogs there is discussion of a firmware update available through a backup then device restore that fixes the yellow hue to the 3g screen. Not sure if this firmware update fixes this problem, though, and am a bit hesitant to try it out myself. I doubt at this stage they will have resolved this issue so quickly. There is also talk on TUAW.com that the OS 2.0 build is disappointingly unstable for a mac product. Hope they get their act in line soon.